Increasing attention has been directed in recent years to the recycling of glass, paper, metal and other disposable packaging as the cost of producing and disposing of the packaging has escalated. In addition, increased awareness of the environmental and aesthetic impact of disposable products had led to government regulation or economic incentives to encourage recycling.
Recycling of household materials on a wide basis is relatively uncommon in the United States. Although some communities regularly recycle newspaper and aluminum cans by individual households, they are the exception. Even those communities that recycle household newspaper and aluminum cans tend to do so sporadically rather than systematically, and they rarely recycle other household materials such as glass.
This lack of systematic and comprehensive recycling programs is attributable in part to a lack of appropriate recycling equipment. Ideally, recycling containers should have a combination of characteristics that are not found in existing container technology. They should be closed so that fumes are relatively contained and so that weather and animals cannot access the interior. They should be readily fillable so that the recycling consumer is at ease in operating them. They should be easily emptied, preferably by utilizing common hoisting and dumping techniques. They should be light-weight in order to be hoisted with a minimum of hoisting capability. They should be inexpensive to manufacture.
The exterior configuration of the recycling containers is also important. The exterior should be, in addition to aesthetically pleasing, of a size and shape that allows the containers to be clustered together into a component grouping of several containers for several different types of material. The overall container should be stable when the container is either empty or full or at any stage in between. The exterior surface should be such that it will permanently take printed labeling and instructions.
Ordinary trash containers are deficient in many of these respects. A typical dumpster is too large and unsightly for most neighborhood applications, is not easy to use for children or small adults, is not weathertight or animal proof, is odiferous, and cannot be conveniently and orderly clustered with similar containers for other recycling materials. At the other extreme in size, ordinary trash cans are too small for most applications, cannot easily be hoisted or dumped and, like dumpsters, do not lend themselves to convenient, orderly and stable clustering.